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SC hearing review plea on Rafale case

Supreme Court is set to hear the review plea on the Rafale case today. The Centre had filed an affidavit in the court yesterday and said that the documents filed by the petitioners in the case are sensitive to national security. The Defence Ministry’s affidavit said, those who conspired in photocopying the papers have committed a crime and put the security in jeopardy by leaking them. It said, an internal inquiry is underway to find out the leakage.

The affidavit said, the documents attached by the petitioners — former Union Ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie and advocate Prashant Bhushan relate to war capacity of the combat aircraft. The government said, the documents unauthorisedly produced by petitioners, are exempt from disclosure under the Right to Information Act.

The apex court was hearing petitions seeking review of its December last year’s verdict in which it gave a clean chit to the government in the deal with France for procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets. It had dismissed pleas challenging the deal and seeking a Special Investigative Team led probe into the alleged irregularities in the deal.